The two Amigos
by IamtheWalrus95
Summary: Stanley Yelnats and Hector Zeroni are on a quest to continue on with life starting with... highschool. Takes place six months after CGL. Bad summary but R&R will be appreciated!
1. Warm welcomings

**AN: This is just my second fanfic and my first fanfic for holes so be brutally honest with reviews. All I know is that this will not be a one shot and there will be other chapters to come. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: The characters in this fanfic are not mine. They are the characters of Louis Sachar and I promise to take really good care of them.**

"I'm telling you, man. High school is a prison in its self. We're just lucky that we got each other for moral support," a boy with short semi-curly hair said. The boy walking next to him wiped sweat from his forehead, his afro swaying slightly as they walked under the beating hot fireball above them.

Stanley and Hector had just gotten out of their personal hell about six months ago. They had been through a lot in Camp Green Lake; a juvenile detention camp out in the middle of who knows where. Although Camp Green Lake was torture, they got a lot of good things out of it.

First of all, the two boys created a beautiful friendship. Second of all, they finished the job of their ancestors. And last but definitely not least, Stanley Yelnats and Hector Zeroni got money. And not just a ten dollar winning lottery ticket; they won _a lot _of money. They didn't so much as win the money, but they found it. Well, anyways that's all part of a different epic story. So here they are now. Stanley and Hector walking on a gravel path to boldly do what every human has done before; continue on with life.

The rocks cracked under Stanley and Hector's feet as they slowly made their way to the first day of grade eleven. They had both agreed on watching each other's backs in high school and in life. Stanley wasn't thrilled about going to school, but he was thrilled about meeting new girls at school. Mean while, Hector was reluctant about going to school. This was his _very_ first time going to school and he wasn't sure if he could make it through the whole year. Exams, strict know-it-all teachers, girls and actual novels to read; Hector was feeling nauseous just thinking about it.

Minutes later they arrived at Hillview High School. The front of the school was a bland square shape with two wide doors. There were students gallivanting on the freshly cut roasted grass and a bunch solicit ting the front steps. Hector stood in front of the school his stomach grumbling beneath the buildings shadow. Stanley stood next to him with an indifferent expression on his face.

"_Beautiful _isn't it?" Stanley murmured.

"Yeah, it's a beauty all right," Hector managed to cough. Stanley smiled warily at Hector.

"You'll be fine, Zero. I taught you everything you needed to know over the summer." Stanley comforted him. "What's an adjective?"

"A word that describes a noun. Something like, ugly school," Hector joked. He felt a little better remembering that he studied a whole lot in the summer. Stanley patted him on the back.

"Yup, you'll do fine. I mean, going to school is for learning, not for showing off your skills in sentence structures."

The school bell rang an annoying _clang _sound and the students started filing in through the huge doors. Hector and Stanley squeezed themselves in to the crowd of students going in the school. As Stanley entered the door he felt something hit the back of his knee sending his leg crumpling down to the ground.

"WHAT THE…" Stanley turned around to see who had pushed him down. He slowly looked up only to meet eye to eye with his worst enemy. Derrick Dunne was towering over him with an evil smirk on his face. He had a muscular physique and wasn't the little bully Stanley used to remember. _Ah, the monster has been through puberty_, Stanley cringed.

Hector helped Stanley up to his feet without a problem. He then looked at Stanley questioning him.

"Well if it isn't Fat Stanley," Derrick mocked, "I see you've lost a lot of weight. Did you take LA weight loss or something?" Derrick patted Stanley's stomach. Stanley wobbled back slightly but Hector balanced him.

"Derrick, it's been…awhile," Stanley forced a smile on to his face. He didn't want Hector to know that he was the wimp at school. At his previous school, he was the overweight student that no one liked. Now since he lost a lot of weight from digging holes, he wanted to start anew.

"Yeah, whatever. So who's your friend with the fro?" Derrick asked at the same time ruffling Hector's hair. Hector glared at him. He could've pinned him down now but it was the first day of school and he wanted to give the guy a chance.

"My name's Zer… Hector. I'm Stanley's friend."

"Well hopefully you're not as big as a wimp Stanley is 'cause this school year's going to be long…" Derrick smirked again pushing the two out of his way as he walked to class. Hector looked dubiously at Stanley. Stanley shrugged. This was going to be a long year indeed.

"What did he mean by—"

"Ahem, young men. Don't you think you should be getting to class now?" A formal voice informed them. Stanley looked around him suddenly noticing that the halls were completely empty. Hector nudged Stanley's side and Stanley turned around.

In front of them was a pale man wearing a suit and a frown. Stanley had guessed he was the principle noticing the signature tacky tie. The man had his arms crossed and he tapped his foot waiting for an explanation.

"Oh, sorry. We're new here and we don't know what classes we're in." Stanley explained.

"Names please?"

"I'm Stanley Yelnats." The man took out a pad of paper and a pen starting to write down their names.

"I'm Hector Zeroni." He eyed Hector as he wrote down his name.

"Hector, Stanley, I'm Principle Warwick. Being new to this school is not an excuse for not getting to your classes early. As you know, this is the start of a new school year and there are many new students that have come here to Hillveiw High School. You don't see _them_ standing around and not getting to their classes…do you?" Mr. Warwick lectured.

There was a long moment of silence. Mr. Warwick's eyes bulged out like he just saw a murder happening. "Well, do you?!" he exclaimed. Hector looked up at him with no sign of fear at all.

"Sorry Mr. Warwick. We thought that was a rhetorical question," Hector said. Stanley looked down at Hector. _Why is he so scared of being dumb? I don't even know what a rhetorical question is_! Mr. Warwick pursed his lips. He then ripped out the piece of paper he was writing on and gave it to Hector and Stanley.

"Welcome to Hillveiw High." The principle grinned. Stanley looked down at the piece of paper. It had his name and Hectors and under their names was the word DETENTION.

**So, what'd you think? (flames will be ignored and criticism will be accepted..)**


	2. Math Club?

**AN: I've sort of planned out the first four chapters and I hope you like them. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Stanley and Zero…**

The end of the day school bell rang. Stanley trudged his way out of his Science class. Their first school day and they already got a detention. Stanley couldn't help but think that Principal Warwick knew about them being ex juvenile delinquents. He wasn't exactly a juvenile delinquent; he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So far, Stanley had had a bad day. His math teacher kept picking on him just because he forgot a pencil. His English teacher, Ms. Patrell had a very bad habit of spitting when she talked. Since Stanley ended up late for English, he had to sit in the desk right in front of her making him an unfortunate target. Even though the curse that ran in his family was gone, he was still quite unlucky. He had told himself over and over that it was just first day bad luck.

"Hey, Zero!" Stanley called. Hector was standing just outside of the cafeteria reading a book. He didn't look up and kept on reading. Stanley called him again. Still didn't answer. Finally, Stanley caught up to him and closed Hector's book mid-sentence.

"What'd you do that for?!" Hector exclaimed.

"If you didn't notice, I was calling you. We have to get to detention, man."

"Oh, I think I'll pass on that." Stanley stared at him. Hector had just said it so calmly. Like it was someone offering him a cookie and he didn't feel like eating it. "Now can I have my book back please?" Zero snagged the book out of Stanley's hand and started walking towards the school doors. Stanley followed after him.

"Zero, you know Mr. Warwick will give us more detention if we skip today." Hector stopped and turned around with a big grin on his face. He couldn't help but smile at the worry in Stanley's voice. _Wow, camp green lake must've gotten to him_, Hector thought.

"Alright, alright," Hector said, exasperated. "What do you do in this thing called detention anyways? Is it a club or something?" Stanley laughed. He now understood why Hector was so calm with saying he didn't want to go. He thought it was just some fun little club when what he didn't know was that it was punishment. I guess with the circumstances Hector has been through, detention is just like a vacation for him.

--

Stanley and Hector walked to room 95 at the end of a dark hall. Hector was perfectly at ease. His face was smooth with no sign of worries. On the other hand, Stanley's face was distorted, his lips in a frown and his forehead creased. Stanley promised Clyde Livingston (aka sweet feet) that he was going to watch his paper view baseball game. Now he had to miss it because of being late on the stupid first day of school. He started to think about just going along with Hector not knowing what detention really is and skipping. But it was too late. Hector had opened the door.

Inside it was like a normal classroom. It had around 30 desks in five neat rows. The thing that was different was that it was dark and there was an overhead projector projecting what seemed like a whole bunch of secret codes. Around ten students were sitting in the desks quietly. Stanley looked around and was surprised that Derrick wasn't there. The teacher noticed them standing idly at the door and gesture to a few seat in the back. Hector and Stanley obeyed and sat in the desks.

As Hector sat down he saw that the secret codes on the overhead projector were actually math equations. Hector took out a lined piece of paper and carefully studied the questions. He finished it in barely 3 minutes. He looked at Stanley and whispered, "Is detention a math club?"

Stanley, trying to figure out the equations cross eyed shook his head and whispered back, "Nope. This is punishment for what we did this morning. Torture isn't it?" Hector's brows furrowed, puzzled.

"Um, no not really. I'm finished." Hector slid his sheet of paper towards Stanley. Stanley looked carefully and saw that he _was_ finished. His lips stretched in to a wide grin and he started copying down Hector's answers.

"Zero, you are one awesome best bud!" he quietly exclaimed.

"I know I am."

--

It took Stanley just about over 10 minutes to write down all the answers. He had studied them too asking Hector how he got the answers. He thought he might as well get some math practice. The next 20 minutes of their detention Stanley slept, drooling on his desk while Hector was thinking.

He was thinking about how he'd changed a lot after Camp Green Lake. He used to be really quiet and wouldn't answer anyone's questions. That's where he got his nickname from; Zero. He had noticed that he excels in math. For first block he had math and he actually answered a few questions that other people couldn't. He was used to Stanley calling him Zero but that's because Stanley's his best friend. He would never let anybody else underestimate him and call him that name. He had the same goal as Stanley; to start anew.

Detention was just about to end. Hector was trying to wake up Stanley but he wouldn't budge. So he then decided to take drastic measures. Hector took Stanley by the head and hit his face to the table. It wasn't as hard as he could've done but hard enough to wake Stanley up. Stanley moaned in agony as he opened his eyes. Hector stared at him impatiently.

"Is it over?" Stanley asked, wiping the left over drool off his face.

"Yeah, detention ended five minutes ago." As Stanley stood up and gathered his things Principal Warwick entered.

"Ah, well if it isn't the new kids who are irresponsible enough to be late for classes," he said in an annoying tone. Hector ignored Mr. Warwick, trying not to get angry. He was tired and just wanted to go home. Hector shoved his way past the principal. The principal grabbed him lightly by the shoulder and gave him a deathly stare, "I don't want to see you and your friend making excuses again? Do you understand?" he said sternly.

Stanley decided to relieve the tense atmosphere and answer the question for Hector. "Of course, Mr. Warwick. We won't do it again," Stanley said as politely as he could. He then quickly pushed Hector out of the class, at the same time smiling at the Principal. He knew how Hector got mad and he didn't want anything bad happening. Right now Hector's anger was just slightly under boiling point.

"Zero, not today," Stanley said as he pushed Hector to the school doors, "You can get pissed off at Principal Warwick some other time…when I'm not here."

**Was it good? Bad? Please review! And also tell me if you want me to just right Zero as 'zero' or just as hector if it's confusing. (Flames will be obliterated by my terminators and reasonable criticism will be sent to the heavens) Thanks!**


	3. Sorry' doesn't help

**AN: Thank-you for the people who have been reading! I just wished more people would review…**

**P.s-SevenHeaven…. you are awesome—why? Cause you are my only reviewer! Thank-you! (if YOU want to be awesome too…please review!) xD**

**Disclaimer- do not own Stanley or zero….**

The brisk morning air brushed past Hectors cheek. The sun had just come up and started to fill the open space with light. Stanley and Hector were standing outside, in the middle of a dirt soccer field. Around 20 other boys were there with them, awaiting instructions. A medium build man jogged out of the school building carrying a net of soccer balls. He had his navy blue hat on and a whistle dangling from his neck. His face revealed humor but you could see that he meant business.

"Gym first thing in the morning should be a crime," Stanley mumbled to himself. He was swaying from side to side trying to warm himself up. As their gym teacher approached he stopped swaying and straightened up. He was paranoid of what would happen through…past experiences.

"This, boys, is your first gym period of the year. Now I know you guys ain't got that much exercise the past summer. But I don't care a single bit. Will I go hard on you today? No, I won't. Lucky for you chuckle heads ya'll be starting with a simple game of soccer. I ain't gonna explain any rules to you and will leave you boys to decide. In about 15 minutes I'll come back and expect to see a well run game happening." His voice was stern. The gym teacher left the field five minutes later after putting the boys into teams. What the boys didn't know was for that fifteen minutes he was creating a painful fitness test for them to endure.

Stanley and Hector were on separate teams. Stanley was on the red team and Hector on the blue. Stanley wasn't good at sports at all. As you know, he wasn't the fittest person in his old school; with his low self esteem he was quite poor at sports. Stanley was anxious to start playing. He wanted to try out his new physique and see if he had any advantages; more importantly, to see if he could actually _play._

Stanley was appointed goalie for his team. On his team there was a muscular boy with spiky black hair that intimidated him. He was the type of boy you could see wearing a football sweater for the school. He was the stereotypical jock and sure had a personality of one. Hector was the centre midfield. He wasn't too sure what was going on but played along with it.

A scrawny looking kid was standing off to the side of the field. He had been on Stanley's team but the jock didn't think he was valuable. He told him to be referee and blow the whistle to start the game. When Hector saw this he wanted to knock the guy out but knew he had to keep himself together.

The jock signaled for the 'referee' to whistle. He whistled as hard as his lungs could and the game immediately started. Everyone went into action and started for the ball. One of hector's team mates got the ball first. His feet moving with the speed of lightning but still graceful—you could see he was a soccer player himself. As hector's team mate maneuvered himself to the goal, the jock moved in. With extreme force he kicked the ball between the player's legs and sent it skidding to the other side. Another red team player caught it and headed for the net. Hector was still puzzled about what was going on and was practically just standing there. The red team player was headed toward him.

Someone yelled "Get the ball!!" and Hector's body kicked into gear. He ran up to the red team player and tried to get the ball away from him. He got the ball for about a second or two but then the red player took it from him again. The red team player was gaining speed and was almost at the net. Hector didn't know if he could get him. His muscles were contracting telling him to go faster. He was so in the zone that he didn't notice the people yelling around him.

Just seconds from the net, Hector ran in front of the red player and slid in-between his legs kicking the ball at the same time. The player was astonished looking under his legs to see the ball flying all the way to the other side. Hector's team mates cheered as they went for the goal. Stanley was now aware that the ball was heading for him.

"You're the goal keeper," Stanley said to himself, "show them what you've got, boy…" The player with the fast feet was running at hyper speed towards him. Stanley had his hands out ready to jump and block the ball from coming in. He saw all of his teammates with their hopeful expressions on their faces. And then he saw the jocks face. It was the sort of face that said _'don't block the goal, and you won't live to see another day'_. Stanley forced himself to concentrate on the atomic bomb coming towards him, but he just couldn't, with the jock glaring at him.

Then everything flashed before his eyes. The blue team player was right in front of his eyes and then all he could see was a foot going up and a ball flying right to him. He reacted like any scared person would do; he put his hands over his head and fell to the ground. Stanley heard the ball hit the net and roll next to him. He looked up to check if it was safe and stood up to wipe all the dirt off of him. The blue team was cheering while their team was walking with their heads down.

All were moping except for one. One's face was fiery red. One's hands were shaped into fists. And one's mouth was shouting quite creative things out in the open. Stanley straightened up. He almost forgot about the big scary dude out to get him. He started backing away but he hit the net and fell backwards.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?" The jock screamed. "YOU COST US THE FRICKEN GAME. AND AS YOU CAN SEE I TAKE GAMES VERY SERIOUSLY!"

"I-I'm s-sorry," Stanley stuttered. The jock took him by the collar and lifted his whole body off the ground. Stanley gulped. So much for starting anew.

"SORRY? Sorry, doesn't let us win the game! What kind of wimp would go hiding in his shell!? That's you if you're not following!"

"L-look man, c-calm down; we'll win the next game."

"Oh, I know we'll win. 'Cause you won't be here in the next game!" All of a sudden the jock through Stanley against the net. Stanley crashed into something hard and he almost past out except the jock was coming at him again and he knew he had to get away. He crawled out of the remains of the net and started to stand up. He saw the jock make a fist that was headed for his face. Stanley put up his hands and closed his eyes. He trembled, waiting for the pain to arrive but for some reason it didn't.

He put down his hands and opened his eyes. Hector had the giant by his neck and was choking him. The jocks face was ruby red and he was squirming, trying to get out of Hector's strong hold. Stanley pushed himself off the ground, trying to catch some air. For some reason none of the boys tried to help the poor guy. They must've hated him too. The cow's face was about to turn purple when a piercing noise hit the field. Everyone turned around and they saw the gym teacher running furiously towards Hector and the rock in his hold.

"What is going on here!" the gym teacher yelled. Hector kept his hold on but un-tightened it a tiny bit. He wanted the scumbag to be alive so he could get him later.

"HECTOR! LET GO OF CLEO!" the teacher shouted again. Stanley blew up inside. So, the muscle man's name is Cleo. It suits him.

Hector sighed and let go dropping Cleo to the ground. Cleo gasped and breathed heavily.

"I-I have asthma!" he choked out. The teacher ordered one of the students to get him to the nurse's office. He then looked straight at Hector and at Stanley. Stanley wondered how he'd known he was part of the fight. It must've been his beaten up body.

"You two, get outta my class! I'm sure the principle would love to have a talk with you." They were led back into the school and to the principal's office, where Principle Warwick sat expectedly in his big chair.

**Gasp…I actually wrote a pretty long chapter. Well…by my standards. And my standards are pretty low. Anyways, please tell me if you liked this chapter or not by REVIEWING! Oh and by the way… I'm not a soccer player myself so I'm not sure if I got those positions right. Tell me if I got them wrong! (Flames will be neglected and constructive criticism will be loved)- Thanks!**


	4. Awe can result to Disappointment

**AN: Hope you guys like this chapter and please review!**

**Disclaimer- Stanley and Zero are not mine…**

Hector sat stiff in his chair. He gripped the arms of the chair with so much force that the wood was pealing. In his head, he was fuming. But outside, he kept his face composed with just a slight trace of anger. Principal Warwick was walking from side to side of his crowded small box office. He was trying to figure out what to do with the 'misfits'. He rubbed his chin a few times and scratched his head. Finally thinking he had come to a conclusion, he sat down in his chair. He then looked at Hector, sighed and ran his hand over his face.

"I just wanted to let you know that I have contacted your mother. She is _very _angry with you. Just to warn you, you should be scared. She sounded even madder than I was. But that's beside the point." Principle Warwick put on his glasses and looked down at the file in front of him. Hector was shocked that Mr. Warwick hadn't shrieked at him but at the same time glad. If he did yell at him, Hector might've ripped his face apart.

"What are you looking at?" Hector asked, curious.

"Just your file," Mr. Warwick replied, "this is your first year in school in your whole life. Pretty impressive, I'll give you that. It also says that you've lived in poverty for quite some time." Principal Warwick twitched as he read on. "Oh… well this explains a lot of things. I see. You've been to a juvenile detention camp called camp green lake for stealing and many other things. You fought with one of the counselors there and with one of the other…happy campers." Warwick laughed at his joke. There was no hint of a smile coming on Hector's face.

"Yeah, I had problems before. But they were miss understandings. I didn't deserve to go to that place." He said.

"Of course, you're in denial. I'm sorry Hector, but the behavior you're showing is saying that maybe you did deserve to go there," A small spasm went up Hector's back "Look, all I'm saying is that you and you're friend, Stanley have had dark pasts. We can help you Hector," Warwick looked at him kindly. Hector didn't buy it.

"Help us how? By sending us back to the menacing place? By giving us detentions the whole year?" Hector's voice was getting louder. He was starting to stand up when Mr. Warwick raised his hand and gestured him to sit down.

"I'll tell Mr. Yelnats to come in before I tell you this," Mr. Warwick said.

Stanley peered through the door as the secretary let him in. He saw Hector and gave a kind smile. Stanley went to the chair next to Hector and unwillingly sat down. Mr. Warwick hadn't yelled at him or lectured him yet. He didn't know what was happening so he was kind of suspicious.

"So, boys, here's my plan. I want to help you troubled young men. You are just starting to figure yourselves out and are making mistakes. That is all part of life. Now, even though the mistakes you've made are quite large ones, I can see you boys are trying to clean your lives up. I've talked to your teachers and they say you're working hard. But your behavior around other students here is unacceptable. I know you were criminals before, but this is a school and I do not appreciate criminals. To help you out I have asked our new guidance counselor here to talk to you every Tuesday after school," Mr. Warwick sounded a bit nervous in the last sentence he said, "I expect to hear that you are actually going there and also that you are being very, very nice to the counselor."

Hector and Stanley sat there with uninterested expressions. Stanley heard what Principle Warwick was saying but wasn't processing it. Hector processed it but refused to listen.

"Uhh…so are we done?" Stanley asked, apathetically. Mr. Warwick nodded and then told them to go home for the remainder of the day.

"But right when school ends, I want you boys to come for your first counselor meeting." He added.

Stanley and Hector walked home both sulking and irritated.

--

Stanley opened the heavy door cautiously. He didn't want to make the door squeak or make any noise. He didn't want anyone to notice him at _all_. He walked across the hall towards the kitchen. He peeped behind a corner to see if anyone was there. The coast was clear. He tiptoed into the kitchen and set his backpack down. As he creeped back down the hall and up the long winding staircase he heard a cough in another room. He stopped mid-step and started going faster. Just at the top of the stairs, the wood creaked loudly.

"_Crap,_" Stanley mumbled.

"Stanley? Stanley, is that you?" a feminine country accent yelled softly through the mansion.

Stanley groaned "Uhuh."

"Oh, good. I would like to speak to you in the living room. If you could come here… _quickly_," the voice emphasized the word quickly.

Stanley walked all the way back down the staircase and grudgingly walked into the living room. There, sitting on a brown suede couch was a red haired woman drinking lemonade and reading a magazine. Without putting down the magazine she gesture for Stanley to sit next to her. He dragged his feet until he was at the couch. He fell back and sighed.

"Hey mom, how was your day?" He asked, smiling sheepishly.

"It was great…until I got a call from your principal. Was it Mr. Wortwick or something?"

Stanley chuckled. _If only_, he thought. "No, ma, it's Mr. Warwick" he corrected.

"Well, Mr. Warwick said that you got into a little fight during gym period. Said Zero was all part of it too. I thought you boys were done with the fighting?!"

"Ma, ma… we are. I didn't start the fight and neither did Zero. It was some big dude who started it. He started spazing because we lost a little soccer game. I told him sorry but he wouldn't take it. He pushed me into the net and Zero put him into a killer choke hold. I'm tellin' you ma, you should've seen the big guys face…"

"Alright, that's enough! You're grounded for a month Stanley Yelnats. You and Zero can't see each other out of school and you can't call him on the phone! All I want to hear from you in that room is your pencil scratchin' the piece of paper!" Stanley's mother hollered.

Stanley sighed again and went up to his bedroom falling on to his bed and wishing for a new life.

--

"So, Stanley, Hector. You actually came. I thought you were going to skip." Principal Warwick muttered. To Stanley, it sounded like he _wanted_ them to skip. "Go on ahead and walk in. She's waiting for you."

Hector walked in first and Stanley followed. The room was filled with sunlight and beautiful sepia photographs of the beach hung upon the walls. The counselors chair was turned around so Stanley and Hector couldn't see her. Mr. Warwick shut the door.

"Ugh. Hi guys," a warm voice said behind the chair. "Sorry, I'm just fixing my desk. I just moved in…" the warm voice turned around to face the boys and Stanley took in a deep breath.

She was exquisite. Her Hazelnut hair reached just past her shoulders creating small ringlets that bounced as she moved. Her emerald eyes glistened against the sunlight and immediately lit up the room as she smiled. Her lips were full and rose red. She was picturesque and Stanley could not. Stop. Staring.

Hector punched Stanley lightly in the stomach. Stanley shook his head and looked down at Hector who beamed at him and winked. Stanley immediately took the awe out of his face and replaced it with a shrug. All Stanley knew was she wasn't a 50 year old grandma who had nothing to do so she resigned to counseling.

"Hey, my name's Emma," she smiled "…well, what are you waiting for? Take a seat." Stanley followed her instructions still keeping his gaze locked on her face.

"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Hector asked his mouth still in a full grin.

"Interesting way to start a counseling session but I'll answer it anyways. I'm 18." Stanley immediately perked up as he heard this. Not that he wasn't happy already, but he couldn't help but think about the small age difference between them. Only two years apart and he was turning 17 soon.

"How did you get this job so easily? You're so young." Hector went on.

"Well…I'm taking college at the moment and I needed a job. So my dad decided to give me this one, since their old counselor quit." Hectors eyes widened. Stanley started coughing coming back down to reality.

"Wait…so your Principal Warwick's daughter?!" Hector practically bellowed. Emma started laughing really hard. _How was this funny? This was an utter disaster! _Stanley panicked.

"I know, hard to tell with my good looks right?" Emma said sarcastically. Stanley didn't notice the sarcasm. To him she _did_ have good looks. Hector chuckled.

"Umm… what's wrong with your friend?" she asked, worried. Stanley's face had a mixture of happiness and disappointment.

"Oh… he's fine. He just never thought that the principal would have a daughter. No offense." Hector explained.

"None taken," Emma chuckled.

**Sorry for the whole boring lecture part from the principal. But at least Stanley got something good out of it! Please review…**


	5. Spies have soft spots too

**AN: Thanks to the following reviewers: Sevenheaven, XoX-queen-bee-XoX, x3jdDork. Hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: The wonderful d-tenters are not mine….**

The smell of mozzarella and baked crust filled the air. Yum, pizza night. They had come up with this new 'tradition' when their old d-tent friends had finally been released from Camp Green Lake. Stanley, Hector and a few good friends were crowded around a plate of pizza, fighting for the last piece.

"Hey, come on guys. Don't you think we should give the last piece to Caveman…after all…he's crushin' on dear old Principle Earwax's daughter. What was her name? Emily?" A boy with dark skin and ray ban glasses laughed.

"It's Emma, and I'm not crushing on her. She's just really nice and I admire her responsibility…" Stanley murmured.

"Psh…not crushing?! You were staring at her the whole time last week, when we went to the first counselor session!" Hector exclaimed. Stanley glared at Hector. Stanley couldn't wait until Hector got his own crush so he could mock _him_ about it.

A muscular dark skinned boy took the last piece of pizza instead. He took the pizza slice, rolled it up and stuffed it into his mouth. The boy with the glasses stared at him. Not in disbelief but in discontentment.

"Yo, Armpit, that was for Caveman. Show some respect, man," The boy with the glasses said.

"Sorry, X-ray," Armpit said with a full mouth, "I'm just so hungry from work. They ain't pay me enough."

"You're tellin' me. I work at a discount car rental shop and they only pay me eight dollars and fifty cents. I think they're tryin' to scam me. I saw another one of the employees walk out with eight dollars and _sixty-five_ cents," A boy with a long neck and frizzy hair said.

"Shut up, fool. You just need to get your paranoid self into a mental clinic," X-ray smirked.

"Hey, Caveman, maybe your girlfriend, milly can help Ziggy here with his paranoia!" Armpit bursted out into laughter and so did everyone else. Everyone except for Stanley, who just sank into his chair. He didn't get what was so funny about that.

Hector saw the look in Stanley's face and he immediately stopped laughing. Hector knew how to have a good time, but he also knew when it was going too far.

"Okay, guys. Why don't we talk about something else?" Hector suggested.

"Why don't we not? Man, Zero you always ruin everything," X-ray sighed. He glanced at Stanley and his face turned sympathetic, "Okay, okay…if that's what Caveman wants."

Armpit, Zigzag and Stanley's eyes bulged out. Stanley was in disbelief. _The_ X-ray had become soft over the years! Hector was the only one with a composed face. Somehow he was smart enough to know that X-ray would never go soft that easily. Hector had a feeling X-ray was planning something cynical.

"Why don't we go over to little Emmy's office instead. You know, so we ain't have to bother Caveman about it," X-ray snickered. Stanley straightened his back from a slouch.

"No…i-it's fine. I can tell you all about her here!" Stanley blurted out.

X-ray smirked, "Thought so."

--

Hector was crouched underneath one of the school windows. He had a dark hat on his head and dark clothes on. He didn't know exactly why Stanley had let X-ray in to pushing him to spy on Emma, but he had nothing better to do. X-ray was kneeling beside Hector, his face beaming.

"So remember, Z, we just need to find out what she likes and if she has a boyfriend. For Caveman's sake."

"But wouldn't that be an invasion of privacy?" Hector argued.

"Listen Zero…you wanna help your best bud or not? Look, all you need to do is distract her. Talk to her about…I dunno, shopping or somethin'. Whatever, just get her to go in the hallway." Hector sighed and nodded sneaking to the front doors of the school.

It was around 7:30 at night and Hector wasn't sure if Emma would even be there. He opened the front door quietly and waved for the other boys to come in. First X-ray came in then Armpit then Zigzag. Hector couldn't help but scowl at the order of them going in. It was exactly like the line for getting your canteen filled. Expectedly, he would always go last. As Stanley walked past him he pulled Stanley back so they were standing face to face.

"What the hell are you thinking, snooping in someone's private life?!" Hector whispered furiously.

"Zero, it wasn't my idea. It was X-ray's and besides, don't you have even a little bit of curiousty?" Stanley said sheepishly.

"No, not really, 'cause guess what? I'm not the one who has a crush on her!"

"Zero, I just need you to help with this. I thought you had nothing to do anyways?" Stanley asked.

"I don't but—"

"Hey! Girls, are you done bickering? 'Cause we'd really appreciate it if you could show us where her office is," X-ray yelled quietly from a corner. Stanley looked at Hector, begging him to help.

Hector shook his head, "Screw this. I've got better things to do than play with someone's life" He let go of the door and walked out onto the side walk.

He didn't know why this whole situation was so important to him. He would've been okay with stealing or robbery. But this hit him in an emotional spot. All he knew was that he was annoyed by Stanley's decision and that he needed to calm himself down before he killed an innocent squirrel running across the street.

**Ohh…Who knew Hector could be so emotional? Yeup …I think that I wrote this chapter really badly…and that right now it is really insignificant. But I'm writing the next chapter and it kind of goes with this one. Okay, so in the next chapter I'm going to explain why Hector's so mad about this situation. I don't know what Zero's real past was but I'm just making this up now so don't get angry. Anyways…I'm probably making it even more confusing but you'll see. Please review…Thanks! P.s(Sorry for the long update…procrastination got to me…D)**


	6. Stupid Spectacles

**AN: Okay…so I'm not going to explain why Zero was so touchy with Stanley picking through Emma's life yet…but I will soon. Please Review!**

Hector started walking back home after a little bit of fuming in front of the school. He had decided just to go home, take a nice warm bath and go to sleep. He felt like he was overreacting for getting mad at such an insignificant thing. But then again, it wasn't insignificant to him.

He kicked the rough dirt sidewalk as he quickly paced back home. Evening had come quickly, casting a blanket of stars above him. There were no cars in site. Just Hector and the other little woodland creatures running around; or should I say scorpions, snakes and a few rare squirrels. His mind still hovered on what Stanley was doing with the d-tenters. Hector groaned at the thought of Emma catching them and X-ray blaming the whole super sleuth spy deal on him. But of course, he couldn't kill X-ray. If he did Armpit, Zigzag, Squid and Magnet would kill _him_.

Hector was about 7 minutes away from the school when he felt something warm spread across his back. He turned around and there was a 1974 volks wagon beetle cruising its way slowly up past him. It was going slow enough for him to see the person in it. As Hector peered into the hazy window he saw that a girl was driving it. Emma was driving, her face tinted under the night. Hector's eyes narrowed, wondering if she had caught them or not.

As he stood there with a little worry and curiosity in his eyes, Emma happened to glance towards him. Her eyes widened and she immediately screeched to a stop right by the sidewalk. Hector jumped and stepped back.

"What are you doing out here, Hector?" she asked in a concerned tone.

Hector tried to think of something smart to say. He didn't want her to be suspicious. "Emma, teenagers these days have freedom," he chuckled lightly. Emma sighed and nodded.

"Right, I forgot you didn't have a principle as a father. Why don't I give you a ride home? This car is a bit old but I think it can handle our capacity." She offered. Hector looked around him and then turned back to Emma. "Uh, sure."

--

"Whoa…she almost caught us!" Armpit said, breathless. They had run from the other side of the school, where Emma's office was, all the way back to the front of the school. Unfortunatley, they found out nothing about Emma except for the fact that she was the principle's daughter. They hadn't found zip about her because as they were sneaking to her office, she was just about to walk out the door. Being the 'hardened criminals' they were, they ran cowardly away.

"Yeah…but I gotta tell you Caveman. That was worth the risk. She definitely has curves. And her face was pretty damn hot!" X-ray sniggered. Stanley cringed, afraid to know what the boys were thinking about in their heads.

"That's pretty vain of you to say, X-ray. I don't just like her looks. She's nice, intelligent, sarcastic, funny…" Stanley went into daydream mode. X-ray, Zigzag and Armpit cackled as Stanley went on about Emma.

"Okay, man. We get it. She's perfect." X-ray said, slowly getting annoyed.

The boys started walking back home. Stanley was glad that they hadn't gone through with the snooping. What Hector had said to him was stuck in his conscience the whole time. He decided that he would go check on Hector and apologize.

"Hey, guys. I'm just going over to—"before Stanley could finish his sentence he heard X-ray start yelling some very colourful words in front of him.

"I CAN'T FREAKING SEE PROPERLY, ARMPIT! SO JUST GO BACK AND GET MY GLASSES!"

--

Hector sat comfortably in the passenger seat of the beetle. It was pretty old but homey and had a nice strawberry scent inside. He looked around the car and smiled seeing that it was clean but not neat freak clean. He definitely thought that she and Stanley would get along. Emma had the Beatles playing on her radio since she wasn't sure what Hector would like. He calmly tapped his index finger on his pants to the music. Hector thought it suited her car well.

"So, Hector. You never answered my question," Emma said. Hector looked at her, perplexed.

"You know, why you were out by yourself? Randomly walking?" Hector groaned to himself.

"I already told you Emma. Teenagers these days have freedom…" Hector said.

"That didn't answer my question. That was more like a statement. I want an answer," Emma raised her eyebrows and a trace of a smirk lit her face.

"You know what Emma? You should keep your eyes on the road. You might hit a snake," that was the best excuse Hector could make.

"Fine then." Suddenly Emma pulled over to a curb. Hector eyed where they were. He was surprised that they still hadn't arrived at his house. He turned to her and smiled angelically.

"Well…I was. Uh, I thought…I uh… forgot my homework! So I went to the school to see if I could get it. But when I got to the school, I remembered that I actually finished my homework," Hector fibbed.

Emma stared at him for a second than turned the car back onto the road, "Okay," she said nonchalantly. Hector looked away and cursed. That was a close call.

They drove in silence for about three minutes. Emma broke the silence by fidgeting with something in the glove compartment, at the same time driving. Hector looked at what she was getting. As her hand slipped out of the compartment that's when he saw it.

The black spectacles were slightly broken, as always and had tape on at least one joint. Hectors eyes bulged out as Emma held it out to him, the smirk she was holding in now showing. He took it and searched for the one small piece of tape with writing on it. As expected he found it, with the name _X-ray _printed in messy handwriting.

"I thought I'd give it to you so you could give it back to your friend," Emma said, still smirking. Hector was about to ask how she knew until he remembered that Stanley and him had told Emma _everything_ that happened at Camp Green Lake. "Hector, I know you came to the school to snoop on me. I'm not oblivious to what's going on around me. And before you object, I know that Stanley has a little crush on me. I mean, that's why you and your friends went there right? Anyways, as I was walking out of my office I heard something drop and feet run away. I turned the corner and found those glasses. That's how I found out you and your friends were there. I'm guessing that you left way before your friends went to the office. But what I'm puzzled about is _why_ you left?"

Hector looked down at the floor of the car, "I thought it was an invasion of privacy, so I left." Emma looked at Hector thoughtfully.

"I have a feeling there's more to it than that, but I guess you'll have to tell me when we meet for counseling," she said, smiling. Hector glanced out the window and saw that they were in front of his house. He politely took all of his things, not forgetting to take the glasses with him and said thank-you. He wouldn't tell X-ray that he had his glasses. He would let him suffer for a few days and then put it in his mail box. Hector grinned at the thought.

**Hmm…I'm not positive on what my next chapter is going to be but I have an idea. I think I have to put more Stanley action in there, because I've been doing a lot on Zero. After the next chapter I'll probably write more with Stanley than Zero and then I'll talk about them equally. Anyways we'll see. Please review on any complaints, suggestions, questions or complements! Thanks**


	7. Reactions

**AN: Thank-you to everyone that has been reviewing. I haven't had time to update 'cause I have a lot of projects in school. Why am I telling you this crap? Because this chapter may seem crappy itself and I'm blaming it on sleep deprivation and homework…D Oh yeah Dontmezwitme: I agree. I'll tone down Stanley's self consciousness. Glad you readers have liked this so far!**

"My mom and I didn't always used to be poor," Hector practically whispered. "It was _him_…him who took it all from us."

Hector and Emma sat across from each other in the confined room. It was just a few minutes after school ended. As Emma looked outside the window dark, grey clouds drifted over, as if a magnet of power was pulling them towards the school. She turned back to Hector and listened tentatively.

"We lived in a beautiful house. My room was decorated with Dinosaurs. My mom's room was powder blue, like the perfect day. I was only three, but I remember it vividly. One day, she brought a man home," Hector's voice turned dark "He had black hair and pale skin. Almost like yours. They would giggle in the living room and would cuddle on the couch. He would stroke my moms' hair. At that time, her hair was long.

"I would watch a movie with them every Friday night. My mom always offered to pay. She _always_ did. The man would never argue. He would just nod and smile. His ugly wicked smile," Hector grimaced. He paused for a second, trying to calm himself down. This is why he had o talk about this; so he could finally be free. He had never told this to Stanley. Yeah, they were the two musketeers, the best of friends, but Hector never thought about telling him this. And he would, but he wasn't sure if Stanley would react the way he wanted Stanley to react. So he told tell Emma. Hector thought that with her being a girl, she would be more sensitive to what he had to say and she would listen. Although he knew Stanley would do all those things, he wanted to be sure.

"Even though I was just a little kid, I still knew that there was something bad about that guy. He would always treat me like a dumb rock. Pronouncing words slowly to me and my mom wouldn't notice because she was blinded by love. I hate it when people treat me stupid," Hector's tense body and furrowed brows released and he relaxed again, "Anyways, for some reason, the man would always go into my mom's office when she wasn't at home or she was cooking dinner. Sometimes he would even go into my mom's room.

"When I was four and he was babysitting me, I saw him go into my mom's room. I peeked inside to see what he was doing. I saw him searching through my mom's personal belongings. I wanted to tell him to get lost, but then again, I was only four. I kept watching him snoop through her things. He looked everywhere; even places where no one would put anything.

"I decided to just leave and forget about everything he was doing. I tried to say to myself that he was just looking for a lost watch or something. But when I was about to leave, that's when I saw him going through my mom's special box.

"My mom told me never to look in that box. She said there were secrets in there that kept us safe," Hector paused and inhaled remembering to keep himself steady, "the box was mint with pictures of snowflakes drifting down. It had a lock on it, but my mom lost the key. He opened the box and his ugly smile spread across his face again."

"Do you mind me asking what was in the box?" Emma said.

"I found out that my mom and I were actually super rich. The box had a whole bunch of bank notes in it from my great grandma. Apparently, the man only dated my mom because he wanted to get hold of our money. I don't know how he found out about us but I hope he's in jail. After he took our money, we went broke and dropped below poverty line. If I had only stopped him…" Hector trailed off.

"But you don't live on the streets now. Your house is really big," Emma commented.

"Yeah, all thanks to Stanley. He's the one that saved me and my mom." Emma smiled warm heartedly. She always knew Stanley meant well.

"So that's why you didn't like it when your friends were snooping through my things. It reminded you of that time." Hector nodded his face still grey.

"Well, thank-you Hector. I'm glad you told me this and I'll keep it a secret," Emma stopped, "I'm guessing you told Stanley about this?"

"No. But I am going to tell him," Hector assured her.

--

Stanley sat on his bed. His room was lit by one small lamp. Stanley's eyes were wide as he stared at Hector. Hector had told him everything that Stanley hadn't already known. Stanley understood and yet was still confused. He had known little of Hector's life before Camp Green Lake. The only thing he did understand was the reason why Hector didn't like him snooping through Emma's things.

"Listen, man. I am so sorry for offending you. Why didn't you tell me this before? I would've told X not to go ahead with the plan," Stanley said.

"Yeah, I know. But I saw how much you like Emma and I didn't want to ruin your whole spy mood," Hector said sarcastically. Stanley rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of X-ray, have you seen his glasses around the school yet?" Stanley questioned.

"Oh…I'm sure he's found it now," Hector smiled deviously. Stanley looked at hector, his brows furrowed and then shrugged.

--

X-ray squinted at his homework. He had regretted doing the whole spy thing with Stanley. I mean, look where it got him now! He can barely see due to the loss of his glasses. The funny thing was, now that he thought about it, was that he hadn't even noticed that he lost his glasses that faithful night. He only noticed when they were just out of the school and he walked into a tree. Yup…nothing gets past X-ray.

X-ray groaned and decided to give up on his homework. He lay down on his bed when he heard an annoying screeching coming from downstairs.

"REX DEAR! YOU'VE GOT A PACKAGE FOR YOU DARLING!" his mother called in her scratchy voice. X-ray jumped off his bed and stumbled downstairs. He quickly took the package out of his mom's hands before she could say anything else.

When he had his privacy, he quickly read the information on the box. He had been anticipating one of the original copies of Ironman, from marvel. He looked at the package and saw that all that said on it was…_REX_. X-ray ripped open the package and was astonished at what he found. His glasses rolled into some bubble wrap and a note taped on to it that said '_you're_ _welcome'. _X-ray looked around him, seeing if someone was watching him. Then he unwrapped his glasses and put them on, sighing happily.

**Well…there's the whole explanation about Zero. Sorry for the late update and please review!**

**(Flames will be fed to my killer rabid budgie…)**


	8. Wilfred

**AN: Why, hello again. Sorry for the long update, but I was thinking of what to do for this chapter. This chapter will focus more on Stanley. Oh and this chapter may seem boring because it's sort of like a filler. Hope you readers like it!**

**P.S sevenheaven thank-you for being an uber marvelous reviewer! **

The frosty air coming from the refrigerators sent shivers down Stanley's spine. He braced his arms around himself at an attempt to keep himself warm. Stanley was leaning on the side of an open refrigerator in the meat section of the local supermarket. He was waiting patiently for his mom, who was trying to decide if they should have duck for dinner or just ground beef. Stanley yawned and started to jab at one of the packages of meat; making the fresh meat turn blood red and then back to the colour of flesh. He wondered how long it was going to take for his mom to choose meat. He laughed inside. When he put it that way, it sounded stupid.

"'Kay, hun. I've chosen duck, is that okay with you? After all, it is thanksgiving dinner," before Stanley could pretend he cared, Stanley's mom took the shopping cart and sped to where the vegetables were. Stanley ran after her, stumbling a few times.

Now, five minutes after they got to the vegetable aisle, Stanley found himself once again leaning against one of the baskets of veggies. He poked at the tomato that was in front of him, causing holes to appear all over the poor thing. As he absentmindedly killed the tomato he hummed a song that his father always sang to him.

"_He cried to the moooon, if only, if only_"

"Ahem, you might want to pay for that now punctured tomato," a squeaky voice said. Stanley jumped at the voice and looked up. In front of him was a pale boy with messy brown hair and pimples all over his face. He wore what looked like dollar store glasses and a shirt that had unpleasant looking stains on it. As Stanley eyed him the word _'hopeless nerd'_ popped into his head. Stereotypical? Yes. Mean? Yes. But he couldn't help thinking about it.

The boy looked at him with a _'so what? Are you goin' to pay for that or just stare?'_ look. Stanley smirked. He wondered if he could play with this boys head. Why he wanted to do that was obvious. Boredom had got to him, still waiting for his mom to choose between carrots and Brussels sprouts.

"Well, what's your name young man?" Stanley said, not answering the boys' question.

"Look at the badge moron. My name's Wilfred," he said in his squeaky voice.

"And how old are you?" Stanley asked, still ignoring Wilfreds' question. Wilfred put his hands on his hips, trying to be authoritative.

"That's none of your business. Let me tell you what your business is. It's paying for that tomato!" Wilfred spat. Stanley stepped back with an _'okay, okay. Calm down'_ look in his eyes.

"Well, how much is it?"

"Five dollars and sixty cents,"

"What?! It says one dollar on the sign!" Stanley protested.

"Well since you technically vandalized store property, that's your fine." Wilfred smiled deviously. Stanley wished for Hector to be here with him. That way, they could both beat the crap out of this cheap skate.

Stanley was about to object again when an idea popped into his head. "Tell you what. If I can get you a date with a girl of your choice in this store, will you let me off?" Stanley asked, grinning. Wilfred's facial expression and body stance immediately changed. His shoulders went up and his eyes glistened.

"Alright," Wilfred said slyly, "hmmm, who to choose." He put his hand on his chin, searching for a pretty girl. There was one with blonde, voluminous hair wearing pink sweat pants and a tight shirt. Stanley followed Wilfred's eyes and he smiled sneakily.

"You want her?" Stanley asked.

"Huh? Oh, no," he said, making a sour face, "I want her," Wilfred's mouth opened up into a big smile, showing his slimy green teeth. Stanley cringed slightly at the sight and turned to where Wilfred was pointing. The girl was facing away from them, looking at bananas. She was wearing black straight jeans with ratted converses and a dark blue cardigan, from where they could see. Her hair was brown flowing just past her shoulders.

Stanley nodded and swiftly walked up to the girl. He knew what he was doing was morally unethical and _very_ demeaning to the girl, but he was having fun. Stanley also knew that if Hector was there he wouldn't have done what he was about to do. He knew that this hit Hector in a soft spot and that he would probably be dead to him. But it was too late to stop him now.

As Stanley reached the girl, he fixed his shirt and stood up straight in a gentlemen like fashion. He tilted his head up and held the collars of his polo coughing at the same time.

"Excuse me, young lady," Stanley said, making sure that Wilfred couldn't hear very well, "that young man over there just said that he thinks you'd look hot in a—" the girl turned around to face him and Stanley made a loud gasp/low screeching noise. He put both of his hands over his mouth and started hyperventilating.

Emma stood in front of him, disgruntled at the spectacle. As she stepped backwards, she noticed that it was just Stanley being his normal self and she smiled at him. Stanley put down both of his hands and grinned innocently at her.

"Hi, Stanley. What a nice surprise to see you here…"

"Uhuh, yep. Surprise!" Stanley said awkwardly, "Emma, will you excuse me for a sec?" Stanley asked impatiently and ran back to Wilfred before she could say anything.

"Uh, yeah. Wilfred?" Stanley said, fiddling with his shirt. Wilfred turned to Stanley, hope written all over his face.

"So? Did she say yes?"

"About that," Stanley whispered, "You can't have her," Oops. He'd immediately said the wrong thing. Wilfred noticed the sound of protection in Stanley's voice.

"What do you mean I can't _have_ her?" Wilfred asked, getting suspicious.

"Because she's obviously taken. Not to mention that she looks _way_ older than you," Stanley exaggerated. Emma could've passed as an 11th grade student.

"Well, it depends if she said yes or no. What did she say?!" Wilfred demanded.

"Shhh! She might hear you!" Stanley exclaimed while whispering. He covered Wilfred's' mouth and led him behind the canned goods aisle. Stanley didn't even know why he was making the situation worse. All he had to give the kid was a mere five dollars and sixty-cents. But no, he decided to be a jerk and 'sell' girls to Wilfred.

As Stanley covered Wilfred's mouth, he took out ten dollars and stuffed it in Wilfred's open hand.

"Keep the change," Stanley said hurriedly and quickly ran back to Emma leaving Wilfred wide eyed and confused.

Emma moved on to the tomatoes now. Stanley smoothly slipped next to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, again," Stanley said out of breath, "So, are you shopping for Thanksgiving dinner too?"

"Sort of, I usually have dinner by myself." Stanley looked at her sympathetically. He didn't say anything for a few seconds. He just stood there and gazed at her choosing vegetables. Then, without thinking, he blurted out "Why don't you come to our house for Thanksgiving?" Emma turned to him, a bit startled.

"Uh, I mean, you know. If you want to," Stanley quickly added. Emma smirked and deliberated in her head.

"Sure, why not. Just as long as you've asked your parents,"

"Oh, okay great! I'll ask my mom right no—"as Stanley turned around he bumped straight into his mom. _Great_, he thought.

"Now, who's this Stanley?" she asked raising her brow. Emma smiled welcomingly at Stanley's mom.

"She is Emma, my guidance counselor. I just invited her to Thanksgiving dinner. Is that okay?" Stanley prayed that his mom would say yes. He bit his lip staring at her.

"No problem. There's always room in the Yelnats's home for anyone!" Stanley sighed with relief inside. Emma nodded and grinned at Stanley who was now staring down at his shoes.

--

They drove home in a big silver minivan, packing all of the foods in the back. It was supposedly fall, but the summer heat still hovered in the atmosphere. The tires cracked as it ran over the dirt road of the parking lot. Stanley sat uncomfortably in the back seat while Emma sat in the passenger's seat chatting with Stanley's mom. They talked about politics and the economy. At times they talked about clothes but the main topic was music.

After what seemed like hours of talking about faded bands and singers, they finally reached the house. Emma gaped as she saw the black fenced estate. The mansion looked like it was restored and had beautiful wide windows. There was a terrace at the front, under what looked like the master bedrooms window. The colour was a stained white and looked like a house for royalty. All in all, the house had Emma's jaw dropped to the ground.

Stanley stood next to her with a wide smirk plastered on his face. He knew that Emma would like the house. He and Hector had been going to counseling for about 2 months and already they knew Emma's personality. She was the vintage sort of person, liking old fifties styles and sixties.

"You might want to close your mouth before you start drooling," Stanley advised, chuckling at the same time.

"It's amazing …" Emma was dazed. Stanley snapped her out of it and led her into the house. As they entered the house, Hector was there to happily greet them. The room already smelled of cinnamon and pumpkin pie even though they hadn't cooked the main course yet.

Emma was shown around the house by Stanley and Hector while the other family members cooked. The whole tour around the house, Hector had been making facial expression behind Emma's back, trying to ask questions to Stanley. Stanley just grinned at Hector and looked away. As soon as Hector and Stanley were alone in the living room Hector started shooting questions like a girl feeding on gossip.

"How did you get her to come?!" he asked hyper. "Where did you see her? Wait…you weren't stalking her, were you?"

"Whoa, slow down Zero," Stanley said "and, no! I did not stalk her! She was just at the supermarket and I happened to be there too."

"So you just saw her and asked her to come for dinner?"

"Well, kinda. It's a long story," Stanley grimaced, remembering Wilfred. Hector nodded in understanding and turned the T.V on.

Around five minutes later they were all called into the dining room. They said their prayers and dug in to the scrumptious food. They were all having fun, laughing at jokes and talking about recent vacations. Time flew by like a swift kite and before they knew it, it was already 11:30 pm. Unfortunately for Stanley; Principle Warwick had put a curfew on Emma. _Stupid curfew…she's old enough to think for herself_ Stanley scowled to himself. But as he looked at Emma she looked pretty tired herself.

Everyone hugged Emma goodbye as she stood up from the table. After the farewells Stanley walked Emma to the front door.

"Thanks for inviting me, Stanley. Your family is pretty eccentric but great," Emma said, chuckling. Stanley blushed a hint of pink and opened the door for her. Just as Emma walked out the door, she stopped a few paces and walked back to Stanley. She gently tiptoed and gave a light peck on Stanley's cheeks. Stanley could feel her soft lips gently brush against his cheek. His face turned to a shade of what seemed like flame red.

"See you and Hector next week," Emma said as she walked away. Stanley waved goodbye and closed the door to see Hector hiding behind the kitchen door, beaming. Stanley frowned at him and walked upstairs falling straight on to his bed and dreaming of sugar plums.

**Please review. Tell me disagreements, questions, complements, suggestions. I would really appreciate it! Thanks (no flames…)**


	9. Preparing for the worst

**AN: Hi, there. I am again very sorry for the late update. I've been thinking about how the story is going to go in future chapters and I'll give you a hint; you might not like what happens. Hehe wasn't much of a hint though…Anyways we'll see what happens. Enjoy!**

**P.S- Thanks to UchihaSymbol for reviewing! **

**Disclaimer- I do not own the Stanley and Zero nor do I own the timeless song fly me to the moon…**

Shades of green and red lit the neighborhood, making reflections in the sky. The air was slightly colder, but still warm for winter. Hector and Stanley had just finished their counseling session with Emma. Stanley was giddy, practically skipping beside Hector as they walked home. Stanley felt that he and Emma were getting closer now. As he remembered, mostly he and Emma were talking and Hector seemed to sit gloomy in his chair.

They had exchanged thoughts on school rules. Which ones just pissed them off and the ones that they thought were reasonable. Stanley was glad that they agreed on a lot of things. He was hoping for another peck on the cheek, but sadly didn't get one. And now Stanley skipped joyfully next to Hector, reminiscing in the session. Hector rolled his eyes at Stanley, walking slightly faster to catch up to Stanley's up beat walk.

"Stanley, please stop it. People are watching," Hector murmured. Stanley looked around and noticed an old woman walking her dog who had suddenly stopped, her face slightly irked.

"Oh, right, sorry." Stanley went back to his normal stride and settled on a happy tune. He hummed it softly digging his cold hands into the pockets of his rough sweater. As Stanley looked down at Hector, he noticed the uneasy expression on Hector's face. "Uh, anything on your mind Z?"

Hector looked up at Stanley and immediately hid his tense face behind an apathetic mask. "Nope," he said. Stanley shrugged and went back to his joyful humming.

They walked for about ten minutes, passing parks with hollering and crying little kids. They passed by a house with two couples bickering with each other about a stupid subject. They also passed by an old abandoned house which they shied away from. About half of that time, Stanley was humming happily to himself, almost unaware of Hector's vicious scowl on his face. After five minutes, Stanley burst out into song. He appeared to be singing Frank Sinatra's _Fly me to the moon_.

By then Stanley started dancing across the side walk; swinging around lamp posts very dramatically like he was on Broadway. Hector was getting really aggravated by Stanley's sudden outburst into song. He stopped and groaned angrily.

"Alright! I'll tell you what's on my mind; just stop making yourself look like an idiot!" Hector roared. Stanley stopped, mid Jazz Square and turned to face Hector, astonished. He walked back to where Hector's feet were securely planted. Stanley couldn't keep a straight face anymore and started sniggering, holding his stomach.

"I knew that would work!" Stanley laughed. Hector glared daggers at him. Stanley took a moment until he got all the laughter out of his system. He coughed and put his attention on Hector. "Go on," he said.

Hector became uncomfortable again. "Stanley, you know how there's a Christmas dance this Friday?" he asked. Stanley nodded, now curious as to what Hector was going to say. "Well, I'm kinda feeling nervous about that. The fact that I have to ask a girl out is making me anxious." Stanley smirked.

"Don't worry your little head, Zero. Let the smooth man himself teach you," Stanley slid his hand through his hair. Hector pursed his lips. He wondered who the smooth man was.

"So, what's _Mr. Smooth Man's _name?"

Stanley frowned, "Mr. Smooth Man's me! I'm Mr. Smooth Man!!" Hector stared at Stanley, his mouth hung open. He had to process what Stanley was saying, because to Hector, it seemed incorrect.

"You know what? Never mind, okay?" Stanley scowled "What I am _trying_ to say is that I'll help you out." Hector made an 'Oh' shape with his mouth, nodding his head in understanding.

By now they were just in front of the Public Library. They were supposed to be there to study for a giant science test on Tuesday but Stanley had a different idea. Instead of walking in to the library he made a detour into an alley just on west side of the library. Barely anyone would dare walk into that alley because it looked dark and dangerous, but sometimes Stanley and Zero would just go there to do homework or read books due to the lack of people.

Stanley and Hector set their backpacks on one of the stacked up piles of crates. Hector sat on an old ripped up arm chair, not really knowing the reason for the change of plans. Stanley clasped his hands together, rubbing them and kicking his legs out as if to get ready for a big race.

"What are you doing?" Hector asked.

"I'm going to teach you how to ask out a girl," Stanley explained. Hector raised an eyebrow.

"And how will you do that?"

"Simple, we'll do role play. I'll be the gorgeous girl and you'll try and ask me out."

Hector gaped and started laughing, "You must be kidding me!!" Stanley's face was serious, no sign of even a twitch of a smile. "Oh, you're serious…"

"You bet I am. Look if you want to get a girl to go with you to the dance, you'll have to be smooth and as cool as possible. Before I teach you some moves, you try to ask me so I can see what you got."

Stanley moved to the back of the alley, where a huge fence stood. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he was in character. Stanley curled a strand of his hair around his pointer finger at the same time fluttering his eyelashes. He then walked—or should I say strutted— up to where Hector stood. Hector couldn't help but twitch. Asking out a girl was hard enough, but asking out Stanley was just disturbing.

"Uh, hi I'm Z-Hector. I was wondering…errm…if you'd like to go with me to the Dance this Friday…" Hector smiled sheepishly at Stanley. Stanley, still in his character made an_ 'Oh my gosh what a dork' _face and raised a hand saying "Whatever."

Stanley went back to being himself and sighed at Hector. Hector shrugged and sat down on one of the closed tin dumpsters.

"Hector, that was far from smooth or cool!" Stanley exclaimed.

"Yeah, but Stanley, I don't think real girls act that mean. You were doing some stereotypical type of girl that belongs in movies."

"Oh, I know. I'm just preparing you for the worst of girls out there, which is quite uncommon but it's better to be prepared. Believe me, I know…"

**--**

"_Uh, hi S-Sydney…" Stanley muttered. He was holding his Spiderman lunch box, fiddling with the handle. It was just the day before the grade two Halloween party, and Stanley had his hopes up. He wanted to ask Sydney, his long time crush, if she wanted to go trick-or-treating with him._

_Sydney looked at him, surprised, as if she's never seen him before. "Yeah?" she asked. Stanley looked down. He felt his cheeks slightly burn._

"_My mom said I could have one person to go trick-or-treating with me. Do you want to go with me?" Stanley's eyes were full of hope. Sydney just stared at him and that made his anxiety rise. _

_After a few seconds of just staring she started yelling, "Ewww! Why would I want to go with you! Come on girls, let's go over to Billy." Sydney led her 'crew' towards a boy with blonde spiky hair. Stanley's eyes welled up with salty water but he didn't want anyone to see him cry over a stupid girl. Instead he just walked back home and once he was in his room, he cried a lake._

**--**

"Grade two was brutal…" Stanley was now sitting on the torn up arm chair, his palms on his face. Now that he thought of it, he didn't know why he liked Sydney. She had straight bleach blonde hair with matching bleached eyebrows, a sharp nose and a fat mouth. The only thing that was nice about her was her cool turquoise eyes.

"I never knew you had such a horrible past…"

"Haha, very funny. That just goes to show that there _are_ girls out there that won't even look at you," Stanley explained. "Now that I know your lack of smoothness I'm going to teach you some moves."

Hector sighed in defeat. "Okay," he said listlessly "show me your '_ways'_."

**I want YOU to review. Tell me questions, ideas and constructive criticism. (No flames)**


	10. Smells like Strawberries and Candy Cane

AN: Hello there fellow fanfictioners. Im terribly sorry that this story was left untouched for a verrry long time! Its summer now so Im going to TRY to update this story as frequently as possible =)

**Disclaimer- Stanley and Zero= Not mine**

Two days away from the annual Hillview High Christmas Dance! Be there or be square! the squeaky voice announced on the PA.

"Lovely. You know what Stanley? I think I might just skip this dance. I mean there are other dances to come"

"Zero, listen. There's no need to be all nervous about this because Im here for you buddy! Come on it'll be fun taking a cute girl as a date so dont worry!" Stanley and Hector sauntered through the halls to their second class of the day. All around them were an array of green and red flyers promoting the Christmas dance. It made Hector feel like he was inside a candy cane.

"Alright, fine Ill gothat is_ if _I find a date."

"Don't worry your pretty little head," Stanley ruffled Hectors afro "You'll find one. See you at lunch." And with that they parted their ways.

Hector entered his math class and slid into a desk at the back. He preferred being alone during his favourite class of the day instead of being surrounded by annoying morons that pester him about the questions. In front of him girls chattered like chipmunks. Behind the girls, guys ogled like babies staring at a T.V. Hector surveyed the girls gossiping around the one table. _Stephanie seems nice but shes a bit too perky. Dahlia's really pretty, but maybe a little too prettydidnt her nose used to be a lot more pointed than it is now? _Hector shook his head. _Never mind shed probably flick me away anyways_

The second period bell rang and students scattered into their seats. They were passed out a surprise test that the students groaned about. 10 minutes into the test and Hector was just about done. Double check on a few questions he wasn't too sure about and 5 minutes later he handed his test in with pride.

"Here you go Mr. Gordon," Hector set the test on the table and was about to return to his desk.

"Oh, Hector I forgot to tell you." Hector slowly turned around.

"Yes, Mr. Gordon?"

"Your math scores in my classes have risen greatly since the start of the year. You're soaking up this subject in that abnormally spongy brain of yours," Mr. Gordon noted, looking up at Hector through his thick glasses.

"Oh, well thanks Mr. Gordon," Hector mumbled, not really sure what to say.

"No, thank-you!" Hector smiled uneasily as Mr. Gordon said this. "You see, we have this math club here at school every lunch break and you would be the perfect addition to it. And don't worry this isn't one of those _here's your question, now solve it _math clubs. Its more of thinking logically and solving problems using logic. Ive seen what you could do with my toughest problem solving question and believe me, you ripped them up like a hungry dog!" Mr. Gordon exclaimed in his cartoon like voice. Hector cringed inside.

"So, are you willing to take part in this meeting of the minds?" Mr. Gordon looked at him with the look of excited hope like what a dog looks like when they think their owners actually going to throw the ball.

"Uhh sure, why not?"

* * *

Stanley lumbered to the cafeteria after the lunch bell had rung. He looked around the hall full of hormonal teens with apathetic eyes. With his hazy vision he sees a couple making out in one of the dark crevices of the school. He sees a poor unfortunate drop his delicious looking lasagna. And he sees Emma, his guidance counselor walking to her office. His blurred sight suddenly sharpens. He sped up his walk catching up to Emma just as she started unlocking her office door.

"Hey Emma!" Stanley exclaimed.

"Oh, hey, Stanley," she said grunting as she wrestled to open her the door.

"Here let me help you." As he was going to take the key from her, his hand brushed against hers. Now, normally in romance novels they'd say something along the lines of _when I touched her hand it sent a shock of electricity through my veins_ but instead, Stanley's hands started perspiring like his forehead did on a hot day. He quickly unlocked the door.

"Eheh, here you go," Stanley murmured sheepishly and handed her the key carefully avoiding contact.

"Thanks," She said with a smile. His hands started sweating more. As Emma entered her office, her back towards Stanley, he quickly wiped his palms on his pants.

"So, Stanley," She said as she set down her belongings on the desk. "Did you have something to ask me?"

"Yeah, actually, uh..." And then his head went vacant. She was just standing there with her pretty hair, her cute clothes and that sweet strawberry scent of hers that just made his brain melt. _Yeah, what was I going to ask her? It had something to do with a dance_

"SO, are you going to the Christmas dance?" He found himself blurting out. His hormones wanted to add _with anyone?_ to that sentence but thankfully his brain kept it from slipping out of his mouth. Emma smiled again.

"Yeah, actually I am."

"OH!" Stanley's voice raised an octave. "I-I mean oh, yeah that's, that's cool." Emma was trying to hold in a laugh by the look of her puffed up cheeks.

"Yes, it is _very_ cool that I'm chaperoning the dance." She managed to let out a chuckle. "I thought you'd gone through puberty by now?" Stanley's cheeks flamed.

"Uh, yeah, I'm a late bloomer," Stanley kidded. At least he hoped she knew he was kidding. "So, you're chaperoning..."

"Yup, Ill be the person killing your joy tomorrow if you seem to be doing something immorally unethical!" She said sarcastically. "Is that all you came to ask me?"

"Y-yeah pretty much."

"Well, okay then."

"Yeah, alright."

"Have a nice lunch time Stanley."

"You too." Stanley knew that was his queue to leave but he seemed to be bolted in his place.

"Stanley? Are you sure you don't have any thing else to ask? Anything you need to confide in me perhaps?" Emma asked dubiously. Her bright green eyes hypnotized him.

"Well actually I wanted to—"

"Emma," a stern voice called and in walked Mr. Warwick. "Oh, I see you're with one of the troublemakers. I'm sorry to interrupt honey but you're needed in the office."

"Sure, dad." Emma walked past Stanley glancing back at him to give him a sorry smile. "See you later, Stanley."

"Yeah, I'll see ya." And there he was left alone, her strawberry scent swirling around him.

* * *

"Hi, I was told that this is where the math club meets." Hector entered cautiously into the art room turned math club haven.

"I don't suppose you're Hector Zeroni?" A man with an English accent asked. He wore a graphic tee with dress pants and blue and white stripped Sperry boat shoes. He looked to be around 30 years old, a beard growing on his pale face.

"Yes, thats me."

"I'm Mr. McQuillen." Hector nodded and smiled. He stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Mr. McQuillen looked at him and raised a brow. "Well? Come on then, take a seat!"

Hector hurried to a random seat in the back. He now noticed that there were only a scarce number of people in this club. The tables in the art room were long ones; so three people shared a table and only 2 tables were filled. He sat in between a shaggy haired boy wearing a tuque and a girl with a pale complexion and a nervous demeanor. As he looked around it was a pretty diverse group of people. Sitting at the other table there was a girl with short straight hair wearing a shirt, leggings and combat boots, a guy with spiky hair and another guy wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

"So we'll start off with an easy question, to see if Mr. Zeroni here can keep up," Mr. McQuillen announced. He wrote a question on the dirty chalkboard. "If an object travels at 7 feet per second, how many feet does it travel in one hour?"

By the time Hector started processing the question in his head 4 out of the 6 students had already put their hands up. Mr. McQuillen surveyed the class. He then gave the piece of yellow chalk to the combat boots girl who the proceeded to write out her answer to the question with a detailed explanation. Mr. McQuillen looked at Hector. He walked over slowly and gave him a scrutinizing look.

"I heard you came from some juvenile detention facility, out there in what I thought was no mans land." Hector chuckled inside his head. He liked the way Mr. McQuillen said _land_.

"That's right."

"Don't worry, boy. I wont treat you like a delinquent," He smiled crookedly. "I'll just treat you the way I treat everyone else in this club." He waved his hand around, grandly, as if showcasing his palace of gold. Hector had a feeling he would be all right here.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Questions, comments, criticism please refer to the review button =D Thanks for reading!**

**Flames will be reported to Jolly old saint Nicholas thus adding persons name to the naughty list.**


End file.
